The cobbles outing of the season, and Owen will be our leader for the first time ever. We've brought all our cobbles riders feasible for this one. Hoping for depth scoring.

First race for Haig as our leader is also our first goal of the season! We picked this race as our Top 3 goal, but we expect a hugely difficult startlist. Our realistic goal here is a Top 5 with Haig with some stage placings to boot. We've brought along Rekita for TTT leadership, while Alben is here to gain some experience in the flat stage.

A fully developed MVD leads our line for the very time in a race which strangely might suit him after all. We do have leaders for all types of stages, so it's a case of whether they can show up at the right place at the right time.

A throwaway race as we did not have a leader to assign to this race with the clashes and other engagements.

We tried to build our TTT team to be competitive in the off-season and this is the first big test for the same.

Kulikovskiy and Cherkasov share leadership in our first ever non-wildcard Monument outing. We do not have high expectations if it comes down to a sprint finish, but we're hoping for a surprise if possible from our roluers.

The first race of the month was our first outing on the cobbles for the season and the first chance to see Owen and our motley crew try to take on some of the best Northern Classics riders in the MG universe. We didn't join the break, instead focusing on keeping our leader safe. Both Owen and Hofstetter were in the lead group with 7.5 km to go, but accelerations after that meant they couldn't keep up any more. They finished 13th and 14th, riding mostly a lonely race to the finish in the closing kilometers. We did quite well in terms of depth, so this was a satisfactory result, without really challenging at the front.

13	Hugo Hofstetter	Sony - Force India	+ 2'45
14	Logan Owen	Sony - Force India	+ 3'06
23	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 4'04
26	Daan Hoole	Sony - Force India	s.t.
48	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Sony - Force India	+ 4'28
58	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	+ 6'18
74	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 6'40
131	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 15'17

The race started with a Prologue, where Tim Van Dijke did quite well but Rekita disappointed somewhat. The former led the U25s at the end of the stage. Haig lost time to only one of his GC rivals.

Stage 2 was flat. Alben got involved in the sprint, which was all that we could really ask for. He finished 13th, which was decent.

We got through the hilly Stage 3 without any damage, which was the goal.

The first mountain stage - Stage 4 - started well enough, with the team protecting Haig well and Roson keeping him in the front group till under 3 km to go. However, when the decisive attack came, Haig couldn't stay in touch, and finished in 7th, in the third group on the road, settling into 5th in the GC.

Stage 5 followed mostly the same script, with us also contributing to the chase of the break. This finish seemed to be a little easier as ten riders finished in the lead group, with Haig finishing 4th, just missing out on bonus seconds but still holding on to his GC.

We didn't bring Zmorka for the TTT on Stage 6, so it was up to the others to help Haig in his GC quest. They did well enough, losing just 18 seconds on the day, and preserving our leader's position in the GC.

Stage 7 was for all the marbles. Unfortunately for us, Haig seemed to lose most of his marbles, and support, at the worst possible time, losing time and positions on the final climb, eventually ending up 10th on the day, and slipping to 8th in the GC. The good news for us was Hayter moving into the top spot of the U25s, giving us some consolation, but it wasn't enough probably. We did finish 3rd in the Teams classification.

8	Jack Haig	Sony - Force India	+ 3'36
32	Leo Hayter	Sony - Force India	+ 21'02
40	Jaime Roson	Sony - Force India	+ 26'39
58	Naveen John	Sony - Force India	+ 1h09'15
83	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 1h34'07
152	Sergio Arias Villanueva	Sony - Force India	+ 2h18'01
160	Esow Alben	Sony - Force India	+ 2h22'09
165	Szymon Rekita	Sony - Force India	+ 2h25'41

Haig finished 9th in the Points.

Stage 1 was a bust with Kulikovskiy not able to challenge.

Stage 2 was semii-hilly and the first opportunity to see what MVD could do as a leader. Kulikovskiy did a fantastic job of 'leading him out' on the slightly uphill finish. MVD jumped off the slipstream with just 200 meters to go and had the legs to carry to his first ever Win, and that too in his first ever PT race!



Stage 3 was flat again, and while Kulikovskiy did better, it was still not enough for a top 10 spot.

Stage 4 was flat again, and Kulikovskiy did even worse!

Stage 5 was the hardest in the race, but the end was easier. MVD was in good form once again, mixing it up with the sprinters and stronger punchers to claim 5th.

Stage 6 wasn't to the liking of either MVD or Zmorka, and the for the latter, it was a prime stage on which he could be dropped. We were able to hold it together though, and kept both our leaders in the pack at the finish.

The all important Stage 7 ITT saw Zmorka retain his form from Tasmania, and claim 2nd once again, moving up to 2nd in the GC as a result.



We kept our leaders out of trouble again on Stage 8, preserving Zmorka's GC podium, and MVD's Top 20. McCormick finished 4th on the stage with Zmorka in 8th.

2	Marlen Zmorka	Sony - Force India	+ 3
17	Mick Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 1'53
51	Alexandr Kulikovskiy	Sony - Force India	+ 4'08
56	Lennard Hofstede	Sony - Force India	+ 4'25
58	Hayden McCormick	Sony - Force India	+ 4'34
93	Ricardo Broxham	Sony - Force India	+ 9'19
98	Bryan Raul Obando	Sony - Force India	+ 10'01
100	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 10'13

MVD finished 8th in the Points and 5th in the U25s. Rossi finished 8th in the KOM. We finished 3rd in the Teams again.

We had no expectations from this race. Cherkasov exceeded them by finishing 35th.

35	Nicolay Cherkasov	Sony - Force India	+ 5'27
92	Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev	Sony - Force India	+ 13'44
113	Logan Owen	Sony - Force India	+ 15'03
121	Mikel Agirrebeitia	Sony - Force India	+ 16'16
132	Daan Hoole	Sony - Force India	+ 17'34
138	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 18'16
148	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	+ 19'48
161	Adam Holm Jorgensen	Sony - Force India	+ 31'22

We were hoping for a near Top 5 from this race, after having invested in a semi-competitive TTT unit in the off season. We were a little disappointing, eventually finishing 9th.

9

Sony - Force India

+ 48

We went into the first Monument of our PT journey with a two-pronged attack of Kulikovskiy for the sprint, and Cherkasov for late attacks. Kulikovskiy sprinted well, taking 10th from the bunch, but that was good for only a 20th place, as a ten rider group were able to get away in the closing stage.

20	Alexandr Kulikovskiy	Sony - Force India	s.t.
63	Hayden McCormick	Sony - Force India	s.t.
64	Nicolay Cherkasov	Sony - Force India	s.t.
119	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	s.t.
137	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	s.t.
141	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	s.t.
150	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Sony - Force India	s.t.
189	Esow Alben	Sony - Force India	s.t.

MVD is back to lead our line for the second time. The parcours here does not quite suit him, so we're just hoping for some surprise result like we did in Paris-Nice.

This is the first race where a trained Leemreize leads the line to try and show his abilities. Kulikovskiy is also here to try his luck in the two flat stages. We hope our riders will try to get into breaks here given we don't really have a top GC contender.

Our cobbles unit is back, and it is unchanged, as it will be for most of the season! We do not expect to challenge for the top spots, but we're hoping the depth pays off with a decent return.

The first PT cobbles race, and the expectations stay mostly the same as in Cheshire.

The cobbles team goes for the hattrick, this time having a wildcard in the form of MVD in the lineup. Can he help supplement the rest? We'll find out.

Heine wrote:

I see you go for the tactic of sending more than allowed number of riders to some races, is that an admin privilige?

kandesbunzler26 wrote:

Looking at the squads you send it'll probably be a harder month for you than February, but maybe there will be some surprises? Especially MvD could be up for another one after his P-N stage win.

We didn't do much on Stage 1 as the flat stage wasn't to anyone's liking on our team.

Stage 2 was hilly. We stayed in the pack throughout, managing to delver Mick to a perfect position inside the final kilometer. He followed the winning acceleration, holding on for a great 4th. He took over the White jersey.

Stage 3 had a similar profile. It was dejavu as we got MVD into another good position for the sprint. He did one better, claiming 3rd, which was a spectacular result in a star-studded field. He would get 5th in the GC!

5	Mick Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 25
31	Lennard Hofstede	Sony - Force India	+ 2'47
32	Hayden McCormick	Sony - Force India	s.t.
61	Nicolay Cherkasov	Sony - Force India	+ 6'44
68	Ricardo Broxham	Sony - Force India	+ 7'45
73	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 8'17
89	Bryan Raul Obando	Sony - Force India	+ 9'18
164	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 15'00

MVD also finished 5th in the Points. He would win the U25s. We finished 7th in the Teams classification.

The race started in the best way possible. Kulikovskiy got the best possible kick in the sprint and held off the pack to win Stage 1.



The mountains started off badly as Leemreize was dropped a long way from the finish on Stage 2.

Stage 3 was more of the same as our designated leader didn't have the legs to be competitive.

Kulikovskiy kept up his good form in the sprints, claiming 3rd place on Stage 4, and more important points.

We finally got it together on a mountain stage with Hayter joining the break on Stage 5, staying ahead of the pack till the line, but having to settle for 2nd as he just couldn't keep up with the stage winner. Still a good result for us.

Stage 6 was disappointing once again.

42	Gijs Leemreize	Sony - Force India	+ 34'04
47	Leo Hayter	Sony - Force India	+ 39'58
88	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 1h05'43
96	Jaime Roson	Sony - Force India	+ 1h08'33
105	Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev	Sony - Force India	+ 1h14'32
113	Bryan Raul Obando	Sony - Force India	+ 1h22'54
115	Ricardo Broxham	Sony - Force India	+ 1h23'42
117	Alexandr Kulikovskiy	Sony - Force India	+ 1h26'45

Kulikovskiy was 3rd in the Points with Hayter in 5th. Hayter was also 2nd in the U25s.

Back to the cobbles but it wasn't a good outing for us. Tim joined the break but that was the highlight as Owen couldn't keep up with the leaders in the closing stages.

22	Logan Owen	Sony - Force India	+ 5'33
24	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Sony - Force India	+ 5'41
28	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 5'48
51	Daan Hoole	Sony - Force India	+ 6'15
87	Hugo Hofstetter	Sony - Force India	+ 11'36
103	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 14'57
115	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 17'30
117	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	s.t.

Allegaert and Hofstede joined the break but things got worse for us as Owen this time couldn't even get into the Top 30.

33	Logan Owen	Sony - Force India	+ 5'01
38	Daan Hoole	Sony - Force India	+ 7'08
40	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Sony - Force India	s.t.
51	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 12'30
77	Hugo Hofstetter	Sony - Force India	+ 14'04
111	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	+ 17'37
135	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 27'45
154	Kenny Elissonde	Sony - Force India	+ 33'57

Another cobbles race, more bad results.

40	Diego Rossi	Sony - Force India	+ 5'31
60	Daan Hoole	Sony - Force India	+ 8'31
61	Logan Owen	Sony - Force India	s.t.
67	Hugo Hofstetter	Sony - Force India	+ 11'53
71	Piet Allegaert	Sony - Force India	s.t.
96	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Sony - Force India	+ 16'15
107	Mick Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 16'31
128	Tim Van Dijke	Sony - Force India	+ 21'37